What lens for Canon T2i ???

[Lazy Photographer]

Well I'm finally going to pull the trigger on a new DSLR. It will replace my wee point & shoot Panasonic. To be honest, I'm a bit nervous, since it's all new to me. I'm used to, well, pointing and shooting. But I've been reading "Understanding Exposure" and other reference material and feel pretty comfortable that the move to my first DSLR should be rather painless.

I've decided on a Canon T2i. What I'm struggling with is a lens for it. I'm hoping owners of the lenses below can chime in and offer their views. I definitely want something better than the kit lens. Here's what I'm looking at so far:

Canon EF-S 15-85mm F/3.6-5.6 IS USM
I like that it'll give me a wide angle at 15mm, but at F3.6 it's a tad slow. The review at Photozone is very good. It's pretty expensive, though.

Canon EF-S 17-55mm F/2.8 IS USM
Excellent review at Photozone, very fast, but it's lacking in focal length. It's also very expensive (for me).

Tameron 17-50mm F/2.8 XR DI II VC
Very good review from Photozone, very fast, but lacking again in focal length. One real plus is it's the least expensive of the three.

The one commonality I like with the three is they are all image stabilized.

I shoot mostly street photography, which often involves wide angle shots of buildings in vertical orientation. I also enjoy night photography and landscape photography. But there are plenty of occassions where I like to zoom in to catch something of interest or a person on the street.

Part of me was considering a wide angle lens, like the Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM or the Tokina AF 12-24mm f/4 AT-X Pro DX and then down the road a 30mm fast prime, followed by a 70-200 tele-zoom.

So if you've read this far, bravo! And if you offer some advice and/or opinions on the lens selection above, thanks a million.

 

[Sam6644]

Canon EF-S 17-55mm F/2.8 IS USM
Excellent review at Photozone, very fast, but it's lacking in focal length. It's also very expensive (for me).

Tameron 17-50mm F/2.8 XR DI II VC
Very good review from Photozone, very fast, but lacking again in focal length. One real plus is it's the least expensive of the three.

If you can afford it, the Canon. If you can't afford the Canon, get the NON vibration stabilized version of that tamron. It has better class.

 

[Big Mike]

What is more important to you, image quality or a more convenient zoom range?

The EF-S 17-55mm F2.8 IS, is a killer lens. Outstanding image quality, but yes, very expensive.
I don't know a lot about the 15-85mm lens as it's pretty new. I have the EF-S 17-85mm IS though. I love the range of this lens, but it's too slow for some shooting, which is why I also have the Tamron 17-50mm F2.8 (non VC).

I have the EF-S 10-22mm and I love it, although it compares very closely with the Sigma 10-20mm which is a couple hundred cheaper.

 

[Lazy Photographer]

Thanks Guys. For me, I think image quality is more important than zoom range, Mike. I've heard nothing but great things about the 17-55 F2.8 Canon and could probably just barely swing it (budget wise), but I've also heard good things about the Tameron 17-50mm F/2.8 and it's half the price. The older Tameron without the IS is even less money, but coming from a point & shoot I have to admit I'm learly of a camera system without any stabilization.

The main thing is I want an affordable lens that will make the most of the 18 megapixel T2i.